Effect of leptin and leptin receptor genes on meat production traits of Slovak Large White and Landrace pigs

Abstract

The polymorphisms in fatness related leptin (LEP) and leptin receptor (LEPR) genes have been characterized and their effect on economically important meat production traits was evaluated in the population of Slovak Large White (SLW) and Landrace pig breeds. We tested HinfI polymorphism of the LEP gene, HpaII and RsaI polymorphisms of the LEPR gene. The data obtained by PCR-RFLP genotyping of 140 animals of SLW breed show the frequencies of 0.707 and 0.293 for LEP-HinfI alleles T and C, respectively. The frequencies of LEPR-HpaII alleles were 0.214 (allele A) and 0.786 (allele B). The LEPR-RsaI locus showed a low frequency of 0.00357 for allele A in tested population. The genotyping data obtained for Landrace breed (62 animals) showed a very low polymorphism of all three markers in tested population. In case of SLW breed, results of GLM analysis demonstrate the LEP gene effect (P≤0.05) on average daily gain (ADG) and the LEPR gene shows small effect (P≤0.05) both on average backfat thickness (ABF) and lean meat (LM). A highly significant difference (P≤0.01) was observed for association of LEP genotypes TT and CC with ADG showing an increased ADG in CC homozygous sows. A significant difference (P≤0.05) was also found in the association of LEPR genotypes with ABF and LM, demonstrating a lower ABF in BB homozygotes. It seems to be probable that linkage disequilibrium with another mutation (s) could explain observed association of tested markers with meat production traits.